plebs
English edit
Etymology edit
From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), variant of earlier plēbēs. Later also understood as the plural of pleb.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
plebs
Noun edit
plebs pl (plural only)
- (historical) The plebeian class of Ancient Rome.
- Synonym: plebeiate
- c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], line 92:
- Why I am going with my pidgeons to the tribunall Plebs.
- The common people, especially (derogatory) the mob.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:commonalty
- a. 1657, George Daniel, "The Author" in Poems, Vol. II, p. 131:
- 1993, Max Cavalera, "Refuse/Resist", Sepultura, Chaos A.D.
- Chaos A.D. / Tanks On The Streets / Confronting Police / Bleeding The Plebs
- 2000, James Fentress, chapter 1, in Rebels & Mafiosi: Death in a Sicilian Landscape:
- The history of Palermo was punctuated by such uprisings; when they happened, the great barons simply fled to the safety of their country villas, leaving the urban plebs free to sack their palaces in the city.
- 2009, Erica Benner, chapter 8, in Machiavelli's Ethics:
- The lesser plebs are not unscrupulous troublemakers.
Usage notes edit
Although the Latin plebs was usually declined as a singular group noun, English plebs is usually treated as grammatically plural in all its senses.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
The common people
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References edit
- “plebs, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2006.
Czech edit
Noun edit
plebs m inan
Declension edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
plebs n (uncountable)
- (derogatory) plebs, rabble, riffraff
- Synonyms: gepeupel, gespuis, grauw, tuig van de richel
- (historical) plebs, commoners (non-aristocratic class in ancient Rome, esp. during the Roman Republic)
Related terms edit
Latin edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old Latin plēbēs, from Proto-Italic *plēðwēs (whence Oscan 𐌐𐌋𐌝𐌚𐌓𐌉𐌊𐌔 (plífriks, “plebeian”, nom. sg.) via *plēðros), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁dʰwḗh₁s ~ *pl̥h₁dʰuh₁és (whence Ancient Greek πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s, “crowd”)) from *pleh₁- (“fill”), whence pleō. See also populus.
Pronunciation edit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /pleːbs/, [pɫ̪eːps̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /plebs/, [plɛbs]
Noun edit
plēbs f (genitive plēbis); third declension
- (countable and uncountable) plebeians, common people
Declension edit
Third-declension noun (i-stem or imparisyllabic non-i-stem).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | plēbs | plēbēs |
| Genitive | plēbis | plēbium plēbum |
| Dative | plēbī | plēbibus |
| Accusative | plēbem | plēbēs plēbīs |
| Ablative | plēbe | plēbibus |
| Vocative | plēbs | plēbēs |
The non-i-stem variant is found in Medieval Latin.
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- Emilian: pev
- Friulian: plef, plêv
- Italian: pieve
- Ladin: plief, plieu, pieue, plié
- Ligurian: chieve
- Old Occitan: pleu
- Piedmontese: piev
- Romansch: plaif, plaiv
- Venetian: piove
From *plēbānus:
- Friulian: plevan
- Italian: piovano
- Ladin: pluvan, ploan
- Piedmontese: piovan
- Romansch: plevon, plavan
- Venetian: plavan (Muggia)
Early borrowings:
- → Proto-Brythonic: *pluɨβ (from the plural)
Modern borrowings:
References edit
- “plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- plebs in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- plebs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
- to get oneself admitted as a plebeian: traduci ad plebem (Att. 1. 18. 4)
- to transfer oneself from the patrician to the plebeian order: transitio ad plebem (Brut. 16. 62)
- to transfer oneself from the patrician to the plebeian order: traductio ad plebem
- to stir up the lower classes: plebem concitare, sollicitare
- to hold the people in one's power, in check: plebem continere
- (ambiguous) the dregs of the people: faex populi, plebis, civitatis
- (ambiguous) a demagogue, agitator: plebis dux, vulgi turbator, civis turbulentus, civis rerum novarum cupidus
- (ambiguous) the plebeian tribunes, whose persons are inviolable: tribuni plebis sacrosancti (Liv. 3. 19. 10)
- (ambiguous) to appeal to the plebeian tribunes against a praetor's decision: appellare tribunos plebis (in aliqua re a praetore) (Liv. 2. 55)
- one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
- “plebs”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “plēbs”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 494
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “plēbs”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 9: Placabilis–Pyxis, page 55
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Learned borrowing from Latin plēbs.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
plebs m inan
- (collective, derogatory) plebs (common people, hoi polloi, the mob)
- (collective, historical, Ancient Rome) plebs (plebeian class of Ancient Rome)
Declension edit
Declension of plebs